The S A T® - SAT Suite of Assessments



The S?A?T?Assistive Technology Compatible Test FormPractice Test 1Answers and explanations for section?2, Writing?and Language TestExplanation for question 1.Correct answerChoice?D is the best answer because “outweigh” is the only choice that appropriately and idiomatically reflects the relationship the sentence sets up between “advantages” and “drawbacks.”Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and C are incorrect because each implies a competitive relationship that is inappropriate in this context.Explanation for question 2.Correct answerChoice?B is the best answer because it offers a second action that farmers can undertake to address the problem of acid whey disposal, thus providing the most relevant detail for the claim made in the previous sentence (“To address the problem of disposal, farmers have found a number of uses for acid whey”).Incorrect answerChoices?A, C, and D are incorrect because they do not offer examples of how farmers could make another use of acid whey.Explanation for question 3.Correct answerChoice?A is the best answer because it results in a sentence that is grammatically correct and coherent. In Choice?A, “waterways,” the correct plural form of “waterway,” conveys the idea that acid whey could impact multiple bodies of water. Additionally, the present tense verb “can pollute” suggests that acid whey presents a problem in the present moment, and the tense is consistent with the other present tense verbs in paragraph?3.Incorrect answerChoices?B and D are incorrect because both use the possessive form of “waterway.” Choices?C and D are incorrect because each creates an unnecessary shift in verb tense. The present tense verb “can pollute” should be used instead, as it is consistent with the other verbs in paragraph?3.Explanation for question 4.Correct answerChoice?C is the best answer because it utilizes proper punctuation for items listed in a series. In this case, a comma (as opposed to another form of punctuation) is required after “scientists” since a comma is used after “manufacturers.”Incorrect answerChoices?A and B are incorrect because both fail to recognize that the items are a part of a series. Since a comma is used after “manufacturers,” a semicolon or colon should not be used after “scientists.” Choice?D is incorrect because the comma after “and” is unnecessary and deviates from grammatical conventions for presenting items in a series.Explanation for question 5.Correct answerChoice?C is the best answer because sentence?5 logically links sentence?2, which explains why Greek yogurt production yields large amounts of acid whey, and sentence?3, which mentions the need to dispose of acid whey properly.Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and D are incorrect because each would result in an illogical progression of sentences for paragraph?5. If sentence?5 were left where it is or placed after sentence?3, it would appear illogically after the discussion of “the problem of disposal.” If sentence?5 were placed after sentence?1, it would illogically discuss “acidwhey runoff” before the mention of acid whey being “difficult to dispose of.”Explanation for question 6.Correct answerChoice?D is the best answer because paragraph?6 includes several benefits of consuming Greek yogurt, particularly in regards to nutrition and satisfying hunger, to support the sentence’s claim that the conservation efforts are “well worth the effort.” This transition echoes the passage’s earlier claim that “the advantages of Greek yogurt outweigh the potential drawbacks of its production.”Incorrect answerChoices?A, B and C are incorrect because they inaccurately describe the sentence in question.Explanation for question 7.Correct answerChoice?B is the best answer because it provides a grammatically standard preposition that connects the verb “serves” and the noun “aid” and accurately depicts their relationship.Incorrect answerChoice?A is incorrect because the infinitive form “to be” yields a grammatically incorrect verb construction: “serves to be.” Choices?C and D are incorrect because both present options that deviate from standard English usage.Explanation for question 8.Correct answerChoice?C is the best answer because the simples present tense verb “contains” parallels the simple present tense verbs “is” and “serves.”Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and D are incorrect because the clause “it contains,” the present participle “containing,” and the future tense verb “will contain,” respectively, disrupt the series of verb phrases headed by present tense verbs.Explanation for question 9.Correct answerChoice?A is the best answer because it properly introduces an additional health benefit in a series of sentences that list health benefits. “Also” is the logical and coherent choice to communicate an?addition.Incorrect answerChoices?B, C, and D are incorrect because none of the transitions they offer logically fit the content that precedes or follows the proposed?choice.Explanation for question 10.Correct answerChoice?A is the best answer because “satiated” is the only choice that communicates effectively that Greek yogurt will satisfy hunger for a longer period of time.Incorrect answerChoices?B, C, and D are incorrect because each is ineffective in this context. A person can be “fulfilled” spiritually or in other ways, but a person who has eaten until no longer hungry cannot be described as fulfilled. Neither can such a person be described as being “complacent” or “sufficient.”Explanation for question 11.Correct answerChoice?B is the best answer because it provides a syntactically coherent and grammatically correct sentence.Incorrect answerChoices?A and C are incorrect because the conjunctive adverb “therefore” and the conjunction “so,” respectively, are unnecessary following “Because.” Choice?D is incorrect because it results in a grammatically incomplete sentence (the part of the sentence before the colon must be an independent clause).Explanation for question 12.Correct answerChoice?B is the best answer because the graph clearly indicates that, on March?5, average low temperatures are at their lowest point: 12?degrees Fahrenheit.Incorrect answerChoice?A is incorrect because the phrase “as low as” suggests that the temperature falls no lower than 20?degrees Fahrenheit, but the chart shows that in January, February, and March, the temperature frequently falls under that mark. Choices?C and D are incorrect because the information each provides is inconsistent with the information on the chart.Explanation for question 13.Correct answerChoice?A is the best answer because it concisely combines the two sentences while maintaining the original meaning.Incorrect answerChoices?B and C are incorrect because each is unnecessarily wordy, thus undermining one purpose of combining two sentences: to make the phrasing more concise. Choice?D changes the meaning of the underlined portion of the two sentences. The thawing follows several weeks of higher temperatures, not the evidence.Explanation for question 14.Correct answerChoice?B is the best answer because it provides a conjunctive adverb that accurately represents the relationship between the two sentences. “However” signals an exception to a case stated in the preceding?sentence.Incorrect answerChoices?A, C, and D are incorrect because each provides a transition that does not accurately represent the relationship between the two sentences, and as a result each compromises the logical coherence of these sentences.Explanation for question 15.Correct answerChoice?C is the best answer because it provides commas to offset the nonrestrictive modifying phrase “an associate professor of geology at Ohio State.”Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and D are incorrect because each provides punctuation that does not adequately separate the nonrestrictive modifying phrase about Jason?Box from the main clause.Explanation for question 16.Correct answerChoice?C is the best answer because the colon signals that the other factor that contributed to the early thaw is about to be provided.Incorrect answerChoice?A is incorrect because it results in a sentence that deviates from grammatical standards: a semicolon should be used to separate two independent clauses, but in choice?A the phrase “the ‘dark snow’ problem” could not stand alone as a sentence. Choice?B is incorrect because it is unnecessarily wordy. Choice?D is incorrect because “being” is unnecessary and creates an ungrammatical phrase after a?colon.Explanation for question 17.Correct answerChoice?C is the best answer because it provides the correct preposition (“of”) and relative pronoun (“which”) that together create a dependent clause following the comma.Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and D are incorrect because each results in a comma splice. Two independent clauses cannot be joined with only a comma.Explanation for question 18.Correct answerChoice?A is the best answer because the verb tense is consistent with the preceding past tense verbs in the sentence, specifically “produced” and “drifted.”Incorrect answerChoices?B, C, and D are incorrect because each utilizes a verb tense that is not consistent with the preceding past tense verbs in the?sentence.Explanation for question 19.Correct answerChoice?D is the best answer because “their” is the possessive pronoun used to refer to an antecedent plural noun. In this case, the antecedent is plural: “snow and ice.”Incorrect answerChoices?A and C are incorrect because they are not possessive pronouns. Choice?B is incorrect because the singular possessive pronoun “its” cannot be used to refer to a plural noun.Explanation for question 20.Correct answerChoice?D is the best answer. The preceding sentences in paragraph?3 have established that a darker surface of sootcovered snow leads to more melting because this darker surface absorbs heat, whereas a whiter surface, free of soot, would deflect heat. As the passage points out, exposed land and water are also dark and cannot deflect heat the way ice and snow can. Only choice?D reflects the selfreinforcing cycle that the preceding sentences already imply.Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and C are incorrect because the information each provides fails to support the previous claim that the “result” of the soot “is a selfreinforcing cycle.”Explanation for question 21.Correct answerChoice?B is the best answer because it is free of redundancies.Incorrect answerChoices?A, C, and D are incorrect because each of the three presents a redundancy: choice?A uses “repeat” and “again”; choice?B uses “damage” and “harmful effects”; and choice?D uses “may” and?“possibly.”Explanation for question 22.Correct answerChoice?D is the best answer because sentence?5 describes the information Box seeks: “to determine just how much the soot is contributing to the melting of the ice sheet.” Unless sentence?4 comes after sentence?5, readers will not know what the phrase “this crucial information” in sentence?4 refers to.Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and C are incorrect because each results in an illogical sentence progression. None of the sentences that would precede sentence?4 provide details that could be referred to as “this crucial?information.”Explanation for question 23.Correct answerChoice?D is the best answer because it is free of redundancies and offers the correct form of the verb “wear” in this context.Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and C are incorrect because all three contain a redundancy. Considering that “quickly” is a fixed part of the sentence, choice?A’s “soon” and choice?B’s and C’s “promptly” all result in redundancies. Choices?A and B are also incorrect because each uses an incorrect form of the verb.Explanation for question 24.Correct answerChoice?D is the best answer because it is the only choice that provides a grammatically standard and coherent sentence. The participial phrase “Having become frustrated?.?.?.” functions as an adjective modifying “I,” the writer.Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and C are incorrect because each results in a dangling modifier. The participial phrase “Having become frustrated?.?.?.” does not refer to choice?A’s or B’s “colleagues” or choice?C’s “ideas.” As such, all three choices yield incoherent and grammatically incorrect sentences.Explanation for question 25.Correct answerChoice?B is the best answer because it provides the idiomatic preposition in this context, “about.”Incorrect answerChoices?A, C, and D are incorrect because each provides a preposition that deviates from correct usage. One might read an article “about” coworking spaces but not an article “into,” “upon,” or “for” coworking?spaces.Explanation for question 26.Correct answerChoice?A is the best answer because it provides the correct punctuation to set off the nonrestrictive list of examples of equipment identified in the phrase beginning with “such as.”Incorrect answerChoice?B is incorrect because it is not standard to place a colon after “such as.” Choice?C is incorrect both because of the nonstandard colon and because a comma is needed after “equipment” to set off the nonrestrictive list of examples in the phrase that follows. Choice?D is incorrect because it is not standard to place a comma after “such as.”Explanation for question 27.Correct answerChoice?B is the best answer because it provides a transitional phrase, “In addition to equipment,” that accurately represents the relationship between the two sentences connected by the transitional phrase. Together, the sentences describe the key features of coworking spaces, focusing on what the spaces offer (equipment and meeting?rooms).Incorrect answerChoices?A, C, and D are incorrect because each provides a transition that does not accurately represent the relationship between the two?sentences.Explanation for question 28.Correct answerChoice?C is the best answer because the sentence is a distraction from paragraph two’s focus. Nothing in paragraph?2 suggests that the cost of setting up a coworking business is relevant here.Incorrect answerChoices?A and D are incorrect because neither accurately represents the information in paragraph?2. Choice?B is incorrect because it does not accurately represent the information in paragraph?3.Explanation for question 29.Correct answerChoice?B is the best answer because it logically follows the writer’s preceding statement about creativity and accurately represents the information in the graph.Incorrect answerChoices?A, C, and D are incorrect because they present inaccurate and unsupported interpretations of the information in the graph. In addition, none of these choices provide directly relevant support for the main topic of paragraph?3.Explanation for question 30.Correct answerChoice?D is the best answer because it provides a relative pronoun and verb that create a standard and coherent sentence. The relative pronoun “who” refers to the subject “the people,” and the plural verb “use” corresponds grammatically with the plural noun “people.”Incorrect answerChoices?A and B are incorrect because “whom” is the relative pronoun used to represent an object. The noun “people” is a subject performing an action (using the coworking space). Choices?B and C are incorrect because they employ a form of the verb “to use” that does not correspond to the plural noun “people.”Explanation for question 31.Correct answerChoice?C is the best answer because the proposed sentence offers a necessary and logical transition between sentence?2, which introduces the facility the writer chose, and sentence?3, which tells what happened at the facility “throughout the morning.”Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and D are incorrect because each would result in an illogical progression of sentences.Explanation for question 32.Correct answerChoice?A is the best answer because the punctuation it provides results in a grammatically standard and coherent sentence. When an independent clause is followed by a list, a colon is used to link the two.Incorrect answerChoice?B is incorrect because the punctuation creates a fragment (a semicolon should be used to link two independent clauses). Choice?C is incorrect because its use of the comma creates a series in which “several of my coworking colleagues” are distinguished from the “website developer” and others, although the logic of the sentence would suggest that they are the same. Choice?D is incorrect because it lacks the punctuation necessary to link the independent clause and the?list.Explanation for question 33.Correct answerChoice?A is the best answer because it provides a phrase that is consistent with standard English usage and also maintains the tone and style of the passage.Incorrect answerChoice?B is incorrect because “give some wisdom” deviates from standard English usage and presents a somewhat colloquial phrase in a text that is generally free of colloquialisms. Choices?C and D are incorrect because both are inconsistent with the tone of the passage as well as its purpose. The focus of paragraph?5 is on sharing, not on proclaiming opinions.Explanation for question 34.Correct answerChoice?A is the best answer because it offers a phrase that introduces a basic definition of philosophy and thereby fits the sentence.Incorrect answerChoices?B, C, and D are incorrect because each offers a transition that does not suit the purpose of the sentence.Explanation for question 35.Correct answerChoice?A is the best answer because it offers the most succinct comparison between the basic definition of philosophy and the fact that students can gain specific, practical skills from the study of philosophy. There is no need to include the participle “speaking” in this sentence, as it is clear from context that the writer is offering a different perspective.Incorrect answerChoices?B, C, and D are incorrect because they provide options that are unnecessarily wordy.Explanation for question 36.Correct answerChoice?B is the best answer because it provides a verb that creates a grammatically complete, standard, and coherent sentence.Incorrect answerChoices?A, C, and D are incorrect because each results in a grammatically incomplete and incoherent sentence.Explanation for question 37.Correct answerChoice?D is the best answer because it most effectively sets up the information in the following sentences, which state that (according to information from the nineteen nineties) “only 18?percent of American colleges required at least one philosophy course” and “more than 400?independent philosophy departments were eliminated” from colleges. These details are most logically linked to the claim that “colleges have not always supported the study of philosophy.”Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and C are incorrect because none of these effectively sets up the information that follows, which is about colleges’ failure to support the study of philosophy.Explanation for question 38.Correct answerChoice?C is the best answer because it provides a transition that logically connects the information in the previous sentence to the information in this one. Both sentences provide evidence of colleges’ lack of support of philosophy programs, so the adverb “Moreover,” which means “in addition,” accurately captures the relationship between the two sentences.Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and D are incorrect because each presents a transition that does not accurately depict or support the relationship between the two sentences. The second sentence is not a result of the first (“Therefore,” “Thus”), and the sentences do not provide a contrast (“However”).Explanation for question 39.Correct answerChoice?A is the best answer because it succinctly expresses the idea that “students who major in philosophy often do better?.?.?. as measured by standardized test scores.”Incorrect answerChoices?B and D are incorrect because they introduce a redundancy and are wordy. The first part of the sentence mentions a research finding or conclusion but does not directly address any “results,” so it is confusing to refer to “these results” and indicate that they “can be” or “are measured by standardized test scores.” The best way to express the idea is simply to say that some students “often do better” than other students “in both verbal reasoning and analytical writing as measured by standardized test scores.” Choice?C is incorrect because there is no indication that multiple criteria are used to evaluate students’ “verbal reasoning and analytical writing”: test scores and something else. Only test scores are mentioned.Explanation for question 40.Correct answerChoice?B is the best answer because it provides subjectverb agreement and thus creates a grammatically correct and coherent?sentence.Incorrect answerChoice?A is incorrect because the singular verb “has scored” does not agree with the plural subject, “students.” Similarly, choice?C is incorrect because the singular verb “scores” would agree with a singular subject but not the plural subject present in this sentence. Choice?D is incorrect because it results in a grammatically incomplete and incoherent sentence.Explanation for question 41.Correct answerChoice?B is the best answer because it provides a coherent and grammatically standard sentence.Incorrect answerChoices?A and D are incorrect because both present “students” in the possessive form, whereas the sentence establishes “students” as the subject (“many students?.?.?. have”). Choice?C is incorrect because the verb form it proposes results in an incomplete and incoherent?sentence.Explanation for question 42.Correct answerChoice?C is the best answer because it accurately depicts how inserting this sentence would affect the overall paragraph. The fact that Plato used the dialogue form has little relevance to the preceding claim about the usefulness of a philosophy background.Incorrect answerChoices?A and B are incorrect because the proposed sentence interrupts the progression of reasoning in paragraph?4. Choice?D is incorrect because, as with choice?A, Plato’s works have nothing to do with “the employability of philosophy majors.”Explanation for question 43.Correct answerChoice?D is the best answer because it creates a complete and coherent sentence.Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and C are incorrect because each inserts an unnecessary relative pronoun or conjunction, resulting in a sentence without a main?verb.Explanation for question 44.Correct answerChoice?D is the best answer because it provides a third person plural possessive pronoun that is consistent with the sentence’s plural subject “students,” thus creating a grammatically sound sentence.Incorrect answerChoices?A, B, and C are incorrect because each proposes a possessive pronoun that is inconsistent with the plural noun “students,” the established subject of the sentence. ................
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